I'm A Baller - Chapter 188
Chapter 188: Business Banquet
The most important thing on this trip went smoothly. Wang Yan was in a great mood.
The good relationship he had with Shangri-la had come in handy in the end. The money he had spent back then was really not wasted.
Manager Madre was also very satisfied. He used that gentlemanly and humble attitude to take the credits.
Rich was still there to translate for them.
“Manager Madre said that even the presidential suite of the Shangri-la Hotel in Tokyo can only provide 150 grams of A5 Wagyu beef per meal…
“Its limited production means that it’s usually all consumed in Japan, and each restaurant’s share is very small…
“A5 Matsuzaka beef production is less than 250 kilograms per year, and Kobe beef less than 400 kilograms. Your consumption is one-fifteenth of this year’s production…
“If President Albert didn’t throw caution to the wind and use his extremely precious connections, this would have been impossible…
“So during the event, please explain to the audience how good the raw materials are and how difficult to obtain them…”
Hey!
So you’re trying to make a request in the guise of asking for compliments…
However, manager Madre’s request was reasonable, and Wang Yan had to fulfill it.
Therefore, he solemnly promised, “Please rest assured, manager Madre. We will strongly support the Shanghai Kerry Hotel and tell the audience that you hotel is the No.1 sponsor of this event because of your hard work.”
After listening to the translation, Madre revealed a happy smile, gave a thumbs up, and kept saying “good”.
Wu Jianan immediately followed up with an invitation.
“President Wang, it’s getting late. Please try The MEAT-grilled room’s special dishes. I will personally cook for you.”
Manager Madre also said, “President Wang, we will present you another gift later. I hope you will like it.”
Since it was impolite to reject such a kind offer, he accepted it.
Wang Yan replied, “Thank you. Please wait a moment since I need to make a call.”
The call was directly dialed to Wang Yunxi. There were two things that he needed the other guy to do.
“There are no problems with the ingredients at all. Xi Zi, it looks like you will have to start the promotion immediately and follow the highest standards set in the original plan.
“In addition, tell the live camera team to get ready. When it’s time to scout the site, do it. Discuss with them and come up with the best live broadcast plan as soon as possible includes the camera position design, close-up switching, and other aspects. Last time, Liu Yuanfang’s team didn’t do very well. We must not repeat his mistakes.
“Later, people from the hotel will contact you. If you need anything, just let them know.”
Wang Yan gave his instructions. Just by his voice and tone, he was able to fully display the charisma of a leader. Wang Yunxi immediately went to do his bidding with passion.
“Don’t worry, Yan, I’ll do it right away!”
After hanging up the call, Wang Yan walked back. When he turned around, he saw a few people standing before Manager Madre and Wu Jianan, talking about something. They seemed to be quite excited.
Eh?
There are conflicts in this kind of restaurant?
Wang Yan walked over in puzzlement. He stopped beside the crowd and watched.
The person who was looking for trouble was a middle-aged man with a big belly. Beside him was a young woman in her twenties.
The man had a lot of flesh and so did the woman, but they were fleshy in different parts.
The fat man’s tone was quite excited. He frowned and questioned Wu Jianan, “Your restaurant is really interesting. You hung the meat in the meat awakening room so that the customers can choose what they want. Now that I’ve chosen one piece, you’re not willing to sell it. What are you doing?”
Wang Yan glanced at the tempered glass window and came to a sudden realization.
The high-end steak shops all had a room specially designed to the meat, some of which was visible from the outside and some was for the hotel’s own use.
Of course, it would be better if it could be seen from the outside. The customers would be able to choose meat for themselves. Firstly, it would be able to let the customers feel at ease, and secondly, it would give the connoisseurs a chance to personally appraise the quality of the meat.
Waking up the meat was not as simple as hanging the frozen meat up. Dry waking up and wet waking up were both very complicated.
Either way, the customers would be able to see it. This was the reason for the conflict.
The meat that Wang Yan had asked for were treasures in the eyes of any connoisseur.
Perhaps they could not tell whether it was from Japan or Australia, but the special frost lines were there, so one could see its grade at a glance.
The fat man wanted it.
But how could it be possible?
Wu Jianan refused him with one sentence.
“I’m sorry, sir. This is a customer’s private property. It is stored here and he entrusted to us to cook it. We really don’t have the right to sell it to you.”
The fatty was still unwilling to let him go, feeling disgraced.
There were a few onlookers who were also doing their best to get the meat.
Some knew President Albert, and some were officials in this district. In any case, they all implied the same thing: if you don’t want to sell it to me, that’s fine, but can you let me communicate with the owner face-to-face?
Wang Yan couldn’t help but laugh. He shook his head and waved his hand to call Rich over. “Where do we sit?”
“We reserved the only private room for you.” Rich said, “Please follow me.”
Just as he turned around, he almost bumped into a girl.
If Wang Yunxi was here, he would immediately recognize him. She was one of the three girls who had repeatedly looked at Wang Yan at the entrance of the restaurant.
“Handsome, if there aren’t many people with you, can you bring me along? I’ll pay…”
The girl blinked and bit her lip lightly. Her expression was pleading and seductive.
Well, at least 90 points.
He looked down slightly. Oh, her figure seemed to be 90 points too.
Wang Yan suddenly had a thought… er, he couldn’t think about it!
I’ll be very busy. I don’t have time!
Young Master Wang could only shake his head regretfully. “Sorry, it’s not convenient today.”
“Then add me on wechat as your friend?” The girl replied very quickly. She must have prepared a plan. “When it’s convenient, maybe we can go out and have fun together?”
What fun?
Wang Yan’s thoughts suddenly flew to the amusement park. Bumper cars, carousels, trampolines… These activities were relaxing and happy. It should be very safe.
“Okay, add me.”
It was just an exchange of wechat contacts. He’d have nothing to lose anyway. So Wang Yan didn’t hesitate.
“Thank you! Handsome, my surname is Lu. You can call me Yiyi or Tiantian.”
The girl was very happy, but her self-introduction was very strange.
Wang Yan pondered and suddenly widened his eyes. “So your full name is Lu Yitian?”
“I hate you!”
The girl pouted coquettishly, looking quite shy.
She didn’t refute, so he had guessed correctly, right?
Wang Yan almost burst out laughing.
This girl’s parents were really interesting, more so than Mina’s parents.
Mina’s name meant having fun every night, but this girl’s… Sigh!
Holding back his laughter, he added her as a friend. Lu Yitian blinked and waved her hand, then turned around and returned to her table.
Once she sat down, her two friends immediately leaned to her and asked, “How was it? How was it?”
“Done!”
Lu Yitian raised his eyebrows proudly, and the corners of her mouth curled up. “Is there any man that I can’t handle? I guarantee that the young handsome guy has a deep impression of me.”
“So, what exactly is the little handsome guy’s name?” One of her friends suddenly asked.
“Uh…” Lu Yitian was dumbfounded.
…
The small incident didn’t affect Wang Yan’s mood. Instead, it made him feel good.
No matter what the reason was, it was always a pleasant thing to be flirted with by a girl.
As for that fat guy, young master Wang couldn’t be bothered to think about him at all.
I don’t have to do everything. After all, I’ve paid people to handle such things for me, right?
Hey, Young Master Wang was more and more arrogance…
There was only one private room in the restaurant, but it was very spacious and could accommodate more than ten customers.
As soon as Wang Yan sat down, Manager Madre came over to accompany him, and Rich stood next to him to serve him and his boss.
Actually, today’s meal was Wang Yan’s first business meal.
It was quite grand.
The hotel’s resident manager served as a companion, the hotel’s executive chef cooked the meal, the private butler served and provided translation.
Every time Wu Jianan finished a dish, he would personally explain to Wang Yan its concept, ingredients, taste, appropriate accompanying wine, and so on.
After the resident chef finished the preparation of the next dish, he would return to continue cooking.
Manager Madre didn’t eat much. When each dish was served, he’d eat a few mouthfuls with Wang Yan. Then, he started chatting or just waited quietly.
There was nothing serious to talk about. It was just a bunch of nonsense. When he found out that Wang Yan was interested in a topic, he would talk more about it. If he found Wang Yan wasn’t interested in a topic, he would change it immediately.
In addition, a pretty waitress changed clean plates for them. During this meal, four people served Wang Yan.
Tsk! Tsk!
This was what a tycoon would receive. He had never imagined what it looked like, but now he knew.
When it was finally time to prepare the main dish, Wu Jianan asked for advice, “President Wang, should I cut a piece of Matsusaka beef and make a special dish for You?”
How big was a piece?
If it was 500 grams, it would be worth 15,000. After a critical hit, it might be worth 300,000…
F * ck. I can’t eat it!
It wasn’t that Wang Yan was unwilling to part with the money. He just felt that there was no need to eat it now. It wasn’t like he didn’t have a chance in the future.
45 kilograms of beef would shrink a lot after being roasted. It was hard to say if there would still be 30 kilograms left. If seven big eaters were to be served, each person would get roughly 4 kilograms.
Some of them might need more than 4 kilograms and some might not. But overall, the amount was not big.
However, Wang Yan did not directly say that he could not bear to eat it. Instead, he cleverly asked, “What is your specialty beef steak?”
Wu Jianan was a little embarrassed by the question, so he deliberately added an extra sentence when he explained.
“The best beef our restaurant provides is M9 grade Australia beef. We mainly serve Salang, Xilian, Filet, which are suitable for grilled meat.”
Wang Yan nodded and asked politely, “Don’t you have M12 grade beef? I remember that Australia Wagyu beef is not prohibited to be exported, right?”
When he was in the capital, Lin Weiwei had told him something about Australia Wagyu cattle, but she was also a dabbler. Wang Yan had a lot of things that he didn’t understand.
Wu Jianan shook his head and explained very seriously.
“President Wang, actually, when making grilled meat, the higher the grade of the beef, the better. The beef that is most suitable for this cooking method is A3 Japanese Wagyu beef, Australian Wagyu beef of M8, M9, M10 grade, or American extreme black beef of Gold grade.
“If the beef has about 30%-35% fat and is cooked to medium, it will have the best taste.
“As to Japanese A5, Australian M11 and M12, the former is mainly made into sushi eaten raw, while the latter is best grilled in thin slices. They are more suitable for special dishes, and it is very wasteful to use them for stewing and stir-frying.
“For example, if your Matsusaka beef is made into steak, the first bite will be so delicious that your taste buds will explode in joy, the second bite will still be the most delicious. But from the third bite onwards, you will think it’s too oily, and the more you eat, the worse you’ll feel.”
Hearing this, Wang Yan suddenly felt a little worried.
He frowned and asked, “According to what you said, will the contestants feel bad after tonight’s competition?”
If it was really so greasy, who could eat so much?!
Wu Jianan suddenly smiled.
“It’s why your idea is simply a stroke of genius!
“Roasting thin slices on an iron plate can burn off the oil as much as possible. Coupled with ppboy garlic slices, it can relieve the greasy taste, although this eating method is a little bit wasteful for such precious beef… Hehe.
“But in this way, the contestants can eat it to their hearts’ content.
“If it doesn’t work, we still have lettuce, perilla, and other vegetables to go with it.
“So, I think it’s not a big problem. It might not be as delicious as it should be, but everyone’s appetite should not be seriously damaged.”
Wu Jianan’s words were very conservative, using the words such as maybe, should, but his tone was obviously very optimistic.
Wang Yan was relieved, but he was also a little embarrassed.
Well, I didn’t know that A5 grade beef would be so greasy, right?
Seeing that Wang Yan no longer had any doubts, Wu Jianan returned to the previous topic.
“Actually, our restaurant also has a small stock of M12-grade Australian Wagyu beef. Those things are not expensive. If you want to try it, I can make a special dish for you.”
“Oh?” Wang Yan was interested. “Then, what is the price of the M12 that is said to be of the same grade as the A5?”
“Australia Wagyu beef is not prohibited to be exported. Australia is vast, and the production of this beef is quite big.”
Wu Jianan spread out his hands. It was obvious he didn’t think Australia Wagyu beef was very precious. He must have seen too much of it.
“If you have money, you can buy an M11 level Australia Wagyu beef. If you have connections, you can even get M12.
“Of course, there is no M12 for sale in the country. However, there are many importers doing the business of M11 and sell it as M12.100G can be sold for 170-200 RMB.
“The highest level of Australian Wagyu beef we can get in high-end restaurants is this beef.
“In Australia, the real M12 is sold for around 70-80 Australian dollars, or about 400 RMB, for 100 grams.
“If we sell it in high-end restaurants, the price of an M12 dish with 180g beef is 2000 RMB or higher, but it has nothing to do with the quality.
“Sometimes, it’s not good to take these things too seriously. It’s stupid to believe in the stories made up for business reasons.
“So, I personally feel that the M12 Australia Wagyu beef is more cost-effective than the A5, but it’s not suitable stuff for hyping.”
At the end, Wu Jianan even winked at Wang Yan like a child.
Haha!
Interesting!
Since Shangri-la Kerry didn’t make any beef dishes above M9, Wu Jianan told Wang Yan everything he knew. Wang Yan feel that it was an eye-opener.
To be a qualified tycoon, there were so many things to learn!
